


The End of the Road

by thistreasurehunter



Series: Gumdrops and Allsorts - a collection of stand-alone one-shots set within versions of the OBX universe [2]
Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Smut, Break Up, I appreciate it is a little ambiguous, M/M, Smut, So specifically flagging just in case it's a trigger for anyone, This was NOT written as non-con, however
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:35:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26167264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thistreasurehunter/pseuds/thistreasurehunter
Summary: Pope ends his relationship with JJ and JJ struggles to process the break-up.
Relationships: JJ/Pope (Outer Banks)
Series: Gumdrops and Allsorts - a collection of stand-alone one-shots set within versions of the OBX universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848478
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	The End of the Road

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested over on my [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/thistreasurehunter).

The words hit JJ like a punch to the stomach. Suddenly his chest felt full of shards of ice. His skin ached. The air felt sharp and cold in his lungs. There was a ringing in his ears.

“I’m so sorry, man.”

JJ swayed where he stood.

“Hey, J? Are you okay?”

JJ blinked slowly. He swallowed.

It had finally happened. The thing that JJ had been dreading for months – years maybe – had finally happened and he felt oddly relieved. He knew the acute pain would come later; the trauma, the regret, the interminable ‘what ifs’. But right now, there was just a numb, resigned relief. His nightmares had come true and he was still standing. And now that the very worst thing had happened, there wasn’t anything left to be scared or worried about anymore. There was something strangely comforting about that.

Fingertips on his upper arm. A soothing squeeze.

“I really am sorry, JJ. I just think it’s for the best. I just can’t turn down this job opportunity. But I also can’t expect you to just drop everything and follow me. You’ve just got your business off the ground and it’s not like that can travel. There’ no surfing in Paris. Besides, all your responsibilities and obligations are tied to here. Your life is here. It’s always been here. It always will be here. If this role was only temporary, I’m sure we could make long distance work. But it’s not. It’s permanent. You deserve someone who’s not just going to be there for you emotionally, but also physically, geographically. In the long run, it just won’t work: you and me.”

The fingers ran up and down his arm as though they were trying to rub logic into his dull, aching skin.

“We’re at a fork in the road. But this is just the end of the road for us. Not the end of the road altogether. You’re the best of men and the best of friends. You’re going to make someone so happy someday. And I’m sad it isn’t going to be me. But perhaps we were both just exactly what the other needed, right at the time we needed it. I don’t know whether I’d have ever had the confidence to come out if it wasn’t for you. I owe you so much.”

The fingers tightened, drew him in. Strong arms encircling him. Holding him. Holding him close.

“You are so very special to me.”

Foreheads touching.

“You always will be.”

Lips brushing against wet cheeks.

“I needed you.”

Lips seeking lips.

“I need you.”

Hands fumbling at clothes.

“Just one last time.”

Skin against skin.

“The only fitting end to our relationship.”

Hand gripping. Pulse rising.

“The only way we could ever really say goodbye.”

JJ tried not to catalog a list of lasts. He tried so hard. But it happened anyway.

The last time Pope would run his hand down JJ’s back, the last time he would suck and bite JJ’s neck, the last time he would cup JJ’s jaw, run his hands through his hair, pant into his mouth as hands roamed and skin was revealed and desire sparked and magic danced around the edges of the room.

For JJ, everything was moving in slow motion, but equally, time itself was moving very quickly. _But when you’d been hoping for forever,_ he reasoned distantly, _anything less than that was always going to feel like the blink of an eye._

He felt disconnected. Disembodied. Removed from reality. Not present in the moment.

He could feel Pope gently push him down, climb over him, straddle his lap, sink down onto him. But his brain felt like he was watching from a distance. As though the first time he was living the moment, he was living it as a memory. A distant, half-recollection. Watching someone not entirely recognisable as himself. Pope already felt half a world away. He was already gone. Lost. JJ was inside a body he was no longer connected to. Pope’s words had built a barrier between them. A wall that even the most intimate physical act could not scale. But as though on autopilot, JJ could feel his body react, respond to that familiar push and pull. And eventually, pleasure was carved from the pain between them.

JJ’s voice cracked on the first words he’d spoken in reply.

“I’ll never forget you,” he whispered into Pope’s neck.

“I should hope not!” Pope breathed into his hair. “Just because we’re breaking up, it doesn’t mean we’re gone from each other’s lives forever. We can still be friends.”

JJ pulled back and caught Pope’s gaze. Stared back into those deep, deep eyes. Words hung in the air between them and JJ tried to reach for them. Tried to find the right ones. The ones that would let Pope know how he felt, how he would always feel. The ones that would have the depth, the weight, the resonance to open that channel back up into JJ’s heart. To show Pope a different path. To steer them both away from that fork in the road.

_You were the only ray of sunshine and hope in the storm of my life._

_You showed me that there was the possibility of a life for me in a loving relationship._

_You showed me that I was worthy of attention and affection and love._

_You calmed me down. You built me back up._

_You’re such a good person, you deserve everything you’ve worked for._

_It doesn’t have to be this way._

_I’d follow you to the moon if I thought you wanted me there._

“I know.” He said quietly instead. “I just mean... I’ll never forget us.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make my day!
> 
> Also - I'm over on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/thistreasurehunter) \- I take requests and you can also see what I'm [working on next](https://thistreasurehunter.tumblr.com/post/624214773315321856/thistreasurehunter-requests-list) (warning: nsfw/adult content under the cut). 💙


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